Update: I was unfortunately not aware of Shamus Young's severe criticism of Fallout 3 available here to link in the original piece and I regret that. It dovetails rather nicely with what I've written and it's much better executed than my piece. I strongly recommend anyone...

GAMING NEWS

Now that Kingdom Hearts 1.5 HD Remix is sitting happily on store shelves, fans of the franchise are hungry for more information on the future of the series, namely Kingdom Hearts 2.5 HD Remix and the long awaited third installment.

Speaking to IGN, series producer Shinji Hashimoto emphasized the fact that a second remake may be coming, but nothing is set in stone just yet. "If everyone plays 1.5 HD Remix, if everyone likes it and everyone supports us, then 2.5 HD Remix could happen. So at this stage, we just have to encourage people to play 1.5 HD Remix!"

Hashimoto then went on to discuss Kingdom Hearts III, noting that the series will mature just as the game's protagonist Sora and fans of the franchise have grown up since the first game was released.

The fact is that the main focus of the series is Sora and Riku; how their friendship develops, but also how they grow up. After so many years, the players’ personal growth is closely tied to the game’s story at this point, so that’s the most important thing about the series and what we want to put into the game. For Kingdom Hearts III, players will be able to resurrect the happy memories they have from being teenagers when playing Kingdom Hearts III. So it’s very contemplative, and will match the personal experiences of much of the audience very closely.

Kingdom Hearts 1.5 HD Remix is now available, exclusively for PlayStation 3. Kingdom Hearts III will be coming at some point in the (hopefully not too distant) future for Xbox One and PS4.